Godzilla vs. Megalon
(ゴジラ対メガロ Gojira tai Megaro, lit. Godzilla Against Megalon) is a 1973 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho, and the thirteenth installment in the Godzilla series as well as the Showa series. The film was released to Japanese theaters on March 17, 1973. Plot The subterranean civilization Seatopia has been heavily affected by nuclear testing conducted by the surface nations of the world. The nation's people, the Seatopians, watch in horror as a nuclear test conducted near the Aleutian Islands critically damages Monster Island. Godzilla, Rodan and Anguirus had been resting on the island when a huge fissure generated by the test ripped the idyll in two. As Godzilla called out for his friends, Rodan and Anguirus fell down the growing chasm. The earthquake generated by the test that destroyed Monster Island also left the capital city of Seatopia in ruins. Naturally upset by this, they unleash their civilization's protector, Megalon, to the surface to destroy those who would — unknowingly or not — destroy them. The ground opens to reveal Megalon, who goes on a rampage outside of Tokyo. Meanwhile, two Seatopian Agents attempt to steal the newly constructed super-robot Jet Jaguar, which can be used to guide and direct Megalon. They also capture the robot's inventor, Goro Ibuki, his kid brother Rokuro and their friend Hiroshi Jinkawa. One of the Agents stays with Jinkawa and directs Jet Jaguar towards Megalon. The other agent takes Rokuro and Goro into a cargo container and bribes a pair of truckers to dump the container in the lake. Things get out of hand, though, and the Seatopian agent is thrown from the truck after threatening the two truckers with a pistol. Soon afterward, Jinkawa, Goro and Rokuro are reunited and try and convince the Military into using Jet Jaguar to re-direct Megalon, who is attacking Tokyo. Goro manages to regain control using his hand-held voice-command devise, and sends Jet Jaguar to Monster Island to bring Godzilla back to fight Megalon. An extended fight scene then takes place, with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, the latter newly giant-sized and self-directed, fighting Megalon in a generic small field. The Seatopians, however, summon Gigan to aid Megalon. The film ends with Megalon and Gigan (who for the second time abandons an ally) defeated, Godzilla returning to Monster Island, and Jet Jaguar returning to his previous, human-sized state, reuniting with Goro, Rokuro and Jinkawa. Staff * Directed by Jun Fukuda * Written by Jun Fukuda, Kaoru Mabuchi, Shinichi Sekizawa * Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka * Music by Riichiro Manabe * Cinematography by Yuzuru Aizawa * Edited by Michiko Ikeda * Production Design by Yoshifumi Honda * Assistant Directing by Tsunesaburo Nishikawa * Special Effects by Teruyoshi Nakano * Theme Song "Godzilla and Jet Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch!" ** Performed by Masato Shimon ** Lyrics by Shinichi Sekizawa Cast * Katsuhiko Sasaki as Goro Ibuki * Yutaka Hayashi as Hiroshi Jinkawa * Hiroyuki Kawase as Rokuro Ibuki * Kanta Mori as JSDF Commander * Kotaro Tomita as Head Seatopian agent * Wolf Otsuki as Seatopian agent * Sakyo Mikami as Truck driver's assistant * Fumio Ikeda * Gen Nakajima as Truck driver * Robert Dunham as Emperor Antonio * Ralph Jesser * Shinji Takagi as Godzilla * Hideto Date as Megalon * Tsugutoshi Komada, Masachika Mori as Jet Jaguar * Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan * Takamitsu Watanabe International English Dub Actor's name on the left, character played on the right. * Chris Hilton as Goro Ibuki / Truck driver's assistant (road) * Warren Rooke as Hiroshi Jinkawa / Truck driver's assistant (dam) * Linda Masson as Rokuro Ibuki * Ted Thomas as Emperor Antonio / Narrator / Radio announcer Appearances Production In mid-to-late 1972, Toho held a contest for elementary school children to design a robot who would appear in the next Godzilla film. The winner's creation was named "Red Alone," which superficially resembled both Ultraman and Mazinger Z. The character was renamed Jet Jaguar for its inclusion in the film. While Godzilla vs. Megalon was made over the course of six months, its allocation of time was unusual. As special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano recalled, "That movie seemed to take forever to develop, then it went into production without enough preparation." Due to the time constraints, screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa simply provided a story outline, while director Jun Fukuda wrote the script. Principal photography started immediately thereafter and took place over approximately three weeks.